I’m all for perspective - but let’s have proper perspective

By Ezy Rider

It’s never hard to tell when England have won a friendly; whole forests give their lives so that scores of football writers can give notice of the need for a new Wembley trophy cabinet. A lovely mix of jingoism, arrogance and pomposity - possibly the only fields in which the English truly still lead the world - comes together on a Thursday morning, and hangs around until the next time England lose a friendly.

At which point, the usual bipolar press reaction swings the other way, and the Sun Wot Won It crew suddenly morph into the Root And Branch brigade. Suddenly, all those who have not hurled themselves off the previous bandwagon quickly enough are decried as fantasists, displaying an attitude that will forever prevent the England team from achieving anything. Keywords here are technique, reality check, reform, gulf, Brooking, etc. But if you want to see the big guns of post-friendly flagellation, perspective is palabra numero uno.

Perspective is the most popular buzzword deployed by England followers on their way to their pessimistic high horses. Of course perspective is required; hours before being beautifully dismantled by the European Champions, Rio Ferdinand was informing the rest of the planet that England could beat anyone. But this should mean an objective, reasoned appraisal of England’s strengths and weaknesses; not hack shorthand for everyone said we were brilliant, but I knew better, nor a delusion that Trevor Brooking doing X, Y and Z will give us a Spain-esque England team in ten years time.

It’’s ironic that it was Spain kicking off the usual fatalism this time. Prior to their Euro 2008 success - possibly the first Euros/World Cup since 1986 where the best team has won - they were as fond of labelling themselves as underachievers as England. While the English have often regretted a lack of technique and skill that the Spanish have in abundance, Spain’s only previous international success had been to pick up the European Championship trophy on home soil - two years before the only time England have troubled medal-makers.

Another nation to whom we are required to genuflect before their awesome footballing artisty is Holland; the home of Cruyff, Van Basten, Rep, Gullit, Bergkamp et al. Trophies to their name? One. The same trophy which has since been won by such shining lights of skill as Greece and a Michael Laudrup-less Denmark. When John Jensen put the Danes ahead in the 1992 final, were Englishmen cursing their luck that their country could never produce such a footballing maestro? Were we seething with envy at the Zagorakis-shaped riches at Greece’’s disposal in 2004? I don”t think so.

But many will suggest that these were freak occurrences; certainly, Denmark”’’s status as the only country to win a tournament they failed to qualify for is probably safe. So we should turn to the most successful European footballing nation ever: Germany. Of the 27 major tournaments which Germany has entered in its various states of unity, they have won six, finished runner-up in seven, and third in three - that’’s 17 of 27 tournaments where they”ve reached the semi finals, and 13 where they’ve gone further. Yet do we look at Germany as we looked at Spain on Wednesday, as a different footballing race, to whose standards we cannot reach? Certainly, they’ve had brilliant players - Muller, Beckenbauer, Matthaus, Hassler, Maier, Rumenigge - but were the English greats, such as Greaves, Moore, Matthews, Finney, Shilton, etc. inferior to these in any area other than medals? Is their football culture one they we cannot match?

Different teams, players and nations play different styles of football; this is a given. Does this mean if one team playing one style loses to a team playing an alternative brand, that the strategy and style alone has triumphed? No. Three months ago, England became the first team to beat Germany - admittedly not the force they once were - in Berlin in 35 years; since then, England’s brand of football has not become obsolete and ineffective. It has simply been defeated by the best side in the world, playing at home, against a team shorn of its best players, who conceded two goals owing more to individual errors than incisive attacking football. Yet apparently the perspective we should all be taking up after a 90 minute friendly is that England cannot compete at the top level, everyone over the age of 9 should forget about kicking a ball again as they’re already dreadful at it, and we should put Trevor Brooking in charge of the country and hibernate for 25 years.

As suggested previously, it would take a particular kind of fool to suggest England are good enough to win anything at the moment. The standard English player is not able to play in the style of a Xavi or Iniesta (nor are 99.9% of human beings, it should be noted); Arsene Wenger’s preference for a certain type of player and the lack of Englishmen at Arsenal are not coincidental. But while English football may be a particularly ugly baby, this is no reason to throw it out with the Stewart Downing bathwater - Italian football is currently in thrall to Beckham, and Lampard’s reputation continues to be sky-high in Serie A, while Steven Gerrard is apparently one of the most coveted foreign players in Spain. With Senna and Alonso providing an effective safety net in defensive midfield on Wednesday, England were unable to test the theory that every one of Spain’s defenders was and is inferior to their English equivalent - Liverpool fans would likely be as indifferent to the departure of Arbeloa as United’’s were to that of Pique.

And their reaction to Pique’s departure is similar to the reaction we should have to England’s defeat on Wednesday; not necessarily indifference, but realising that it was a necessary step on the way to improving the quality that is already there. A fit of Pique if you like.

Barry to stay at Villa??

Tonight’s announcement from Villa that Gareth Barry will be staying should bring to an end one of the summers most tedious transfer saga’s, but I fail to be convinced this will be the end of the story.

Things have looked bleak for Barrys hopes of a “dream move” to Liverpool ever since they splashed out £19m on Robbie Keane, after months of haggling over GB’s fee and seemingly pleading poverty they suddenly manage to produce the cash for Keane, it must have been a real kick in the teeth for Mr Loyalty….after his claims that Villa did not do enough to convince him to stay, in one fell swoop Liverpool prove that he was not their top priority…feeling unloved Gareth?? What a shame.

Since his rather misguided interview with the NOTW, Barry has done the sensible thing and kept his gob shut, unfortunately this is still the case, the club may say he is going nowhere, but Barry is yet to do likewise, and until he does we really cant be sure that come 1^st September he will still be a Villa player.

The whole scenario seems reminiscent of the Dwight Yorke saga of 10 years ago, the speculation persisted all summer, Villa seemed to have done enough to keep him, until eventually the player forced the clubs hand by demanding a transfer, Villa were left with little option but to sell.

Barry has seemed reluctant so far to demand a transfer, that is his prerogative, it will cost him financially if he does so, but if he really wants to move that badly then surely it worth the sacrifice?? Those who have said he has been a loyal servant for 10 years and should be allowed to leave with our blessing are misguided, yes he has been with us for 10 years, but he has been paid handsomely for his services, and throughout those 10 years its hardly been the case that a queue of clubs have been beating down our door for him, has he been a loyal servant or has he been here so long because no one better wanted him?

If Barry does stay then the nagging doubt will persist that it’s not through choice, will it affect his performances? Hopefully not…he has an England place to protect, he needs to continue to perform if he wants to get the move away from Villa Park that he so clearly seems to want.

In the short term it may seem that we have won a battle with Liverpool, will we win that war? I am yet to be convinced.

Discuss this on our forum at: www.vbbfootball.com/forum

From the tiniest Acorns

Well after months of speculation it was confirmed today that Aston Villa will carry the name of Acorns Children Hospice on their shirts next season.

Over the last two years there have been many things happening at Aston Villa to make us fans proud, but for all the achievements on and off the field today’s news is something special.

For those that don’t know about Acorns, its an organisation that offers help, care and support to life limited children and their families across the region, since its inception in 1988 its has provided care and support for more than 1000 children, its work depends on donations from the public and the association and exposure it will gain from this sponsorship can only help to continue the fantastic work it does.

At a time when football and footballers reputations are seldom seen in a positive and caring light, this gesture from Mr Lerner is all the more amazing, its been reported that Villa turned down substantial deals from major corporations to carry their name and logo on the famous claret and blue shirts, instead opting not only to gift their shirt sponsorship to Acorns but also to donate a large sum to the charity.

The club will undoubtedly benefit from the partnership, already they have received a large amount of press coverage, all highly positive and complimentary, this is all good, coupled with the work that the club has recently undertaken to build bridges with the local community in Aston, there is a massive shift in the whole ethos of the club, and after years of negative press coverage and a negative perception of the club we are suddenly seeing Aston Villa as a club doing all the right things and recognising that a football club has a vital role to play within its local community.

On the field these are exciting times for Aston Villa, off the pitch things are equally positive, looking around the rest of the Premier League and the actions of the new breed of super rich foreign owners looking to get onto the gravy train,it makes all these developments at Villa Park even more special.

Being the old cynic I am, I tend to view most things with a degree of scepticism, in the past i have questioned Randy’s motives, but even I cannot fail to be impressed by this latest piece of news, today like many others I am so very proud to be an Aston Villa fan, today our owner is the envy of the football world, Aston Villa are at the forefront of innovation, its the way it always used to be, and its fantastic to be in this position again.

For more information on Acorns and the work they do, please see their website at : http://www.acorns.org.uk/

By Russell Dempsey

‘m concerned at the moment that we’re all so confident in our new management team and ‘new look’ young and hungry squad (wasn’t that new to the Championship almost two years ago?) that we’re overlooking some real problems.

Firstly, that three goalkeepers supposedly brought in to replace Maik Taylor simply haven’t made the grade. For all Colin Doyle’s early success with Steve Bruce, he obviously doesn’t have McLeish’s support. Krysiak can’t seem to get a match in Scotland, and Kingson - though obviously great in Ghana’s squad - has hardly sparked to life in our reserves….

Secondly, our lack of clean sheets (urgh!) Middlesborough on Boxing Day was our last clean sheet. Zarate has scored three goals in his last two appearances, and thank Barry Fry he did, cos it’s hard to know where else they would come from. From a hattrick against Spurs, Forssell hasn’t scored since. McFadden will be excused for a lack of goals after coming back from injury, and Jerome’s five goals suggest he has been harshly left on the bench….until you realise he’s played 23 matches. Not a great return is it? Sure he’s still young, but our whole squad is ‘young and hungry’ and youth is no excuse, especially when our ‘older’ players like Forssell only have 7 goals themselves (allbeit from a far lesser 16 matches).

O’Connor simply hasn’t looked sharp enough to me all season, probably why he’s only played seven matches all season.

Our midfielders have supported well, namely Larsson and Kapo. McSheff has been disappointing until very recently, and the fact that Damien Johnson is seemingly accepted in the centre of midfield every week (by me too) shows how weak we are for options. Nafti can be a pillar of strength, but can also make too many errors for an international player.

This brings me onto my other worry. Ridgewell has made some ‘individual errors’ that have cost us. As has Maik Taylor. And Radhi Jaidi. And Franck Quedrue. Not to mention McSheffrey’s or Forssell’s missed goal opportunities. I could go on. Our recent point of blame was ‘weakness at set piece defending’ which is ironic when I read stats that suggest we’ve scored a higer percentage of our goals from set pieces than any other club in the league!

Our form against the ‘top’ clubs has been excellent, continued in great style against Manchester City today, a club with European ambitions.

This is the best I can muster in terms of confidence. I feel 99% certain we won’t go down this season, and feel McLeish can do a great job for us should we survive this year, but…….
….what if we’re not backed financially by the Board again? McFadden, Murphy and Zarate on loan were a mere fraction of what we were expecting in January, especially when we allowed Danns and Sadler to leave…

De Ridder was supposed to be one of our most skillful players but seems like he can’t even get a bench spot at the moment….

Fixture wise, we have Wigan, Everton, Villa, Liverpool, Fulham and Blackburn yet to play.

My guess is we’ll beat Villa and Liverpool due to their ‘top half status’ and comparing earlier performances (and the derby factor)
We’ll draw against Fulham and Blackburn
and we’ll lose against Wigan and Everton.

This would leave us with only 38 points. As 40 points is the target most banded around for safety, it’s not looking as rosy as I’d like. It’s also looking even more vital that we won today.

I’d trade beating Villa for picking up full points against Wigan and Everton. Fulham and Blackburn are definitely winnable matches, but if it’s the same team that could only scrape a 1-1 home draw with Fulham, lost 2-1 away to a decent Blackburn side, let in two goals to a poor Wigan team not far from losing their manager, and lost 3-1 to Everton, it’s all a big ask. Liverpool and Everton both also have Europe to play for, and so it appears the Villa match could be crucial to our survival. It’ll be a tough match, and the smart money will be on Villa with home advantage, but Villa’s capitulation to a rampant Manchester United today could spell the start of their season fizzling out. What other than league position do they have to play for now? Perhaps I’d best bet on a draw?

I still feel Fulham and Bolton are the more likely to go down, but it’s teams like these rather than Blues’ quality that should keep us in the Premier League this year in my oh so humble opinion.

Prove me wrong against Wigan Blues, and I’m sure it’ll be fun listening to Steve Bruce blame the rub of the green again .

Javier Mascherano’s sending off last weekend provoked reaction from all sections of the game, not least from his manager Rafa Benitez.  There seems to be a feeling that he is the first “victim” of an impending crack down on dissent in the game, possibly resulting from the incidents involving Ashley Cole.  I for one hope that this is true.

Read the rest of this entry »

By Jaroslaw 

There has been already so much discussion on the subject, and I imagine pretty much every fan forum on the web has a similar article to this regarding the Premiership’s latest proposals. Nonetheless, it is a plan worthy of mass opposition. I could rant for pages and pages on why this is an awful idea; with every fan I speak to I hear another take on why this plan lacks logic, integrity, and sensitivity towards the attending fan.  Read the rest of this entry »

The shutting of the transfer window provides a natural punctuation mark to the season. It’s a time when you realise you’ve got the last piece of the jigsaw (or at least a bit that seems to make sense of the rest of the puzzle: Kieran Richardson) or that there really is very little hope left (Robson’s efforts any other year). This year Albion find themselves in the privileged position of not really having to worry too much: sat at the top of the table after Saturday’s victory, courtesy of the best performance since we humbled Bristol City against a decent team in Burnley: the future looks blue and white.

Mowbray has assembled the best team in a generation at the Hawthorns. Gera, Teixiera and Greening might not be the best midfield in the world but they certainly have claims to that title where the Championship is concerned. Bolstered by the signings of Kim Do-Hoen and Dorrans (come the summer); Mowbray is quickly getting the reputation of an Imelda Marcos where creative playmakers are concerned.

Mowbray’s infatuation with diminutive midfielders has led to some raised eyebrows as the midfield is increasingly becoming an area where ‘embarrassment’ and ‘riches’ could be used with some justification. However, the manager seems to have a policy of if a player is good enough and available then why not go out and get them.